Neil ashdown

Most timber-based fire doors allow bolt through pull handles under certain conditions. However, to be certain whether this applies to your door you should contact the door manufacturer for advice.

The door security viewer (spy hole) fitted to your fire door should have been a fire resistance performance tested product. Therefore, by replacing it with a camera you may have adversely affected the fire resistance performance of the door.

The inspector should be able to provide you with details of the necessary remedial works and as they have inspected the door you should contact them in the first instance. However, Georgian Wired polished plate is considered acceptable for vision panels in fire rated doors but there is more than one type. So in terms of installing a suitable glazing system you should seek advice from a fire door / fire rated glazing specialist.

That's correct. If only the decorative veneer is damaged it can be repaired.

First make sure that the door is completely solid and suitable to accept a concealed self-closer, many fire doors are not. If the door is new, you can easily find out by consulting the door manufacturer. I understand that Safelincs have a selection of concealed self-closers.

Yes it would be interesting to see what happened. It may be possible to install secondary glazing to form a fire rated panel whilst retaining the existing heritage glazing. A suitable survey by a competent person would be necessary first.

A new fire door-set is always preferable to a new fire door leaf-only in terms of suitability, compatibility and compliance. Before you order your replacement check that the inspector has checked ALL evidence of fire resistance performance for the glazed door. Some manufacturers test with more than one provider and therefore it could sometimes be possible that additional data may exist.

A double-action swing door would be unlatched and the self-closing device / floor spring should cause the door to close in the correct position. If its a fire door, bear in mind not all standard fire doors are suitable for double-action.

The office being a habitable room should have the same level of fire compartmentation as the rest of the house. So yes a fire door would be required between the office and garage. Have you considered how you might escape from the office without using the garage?

All new fire doors must have documentary evidence of fire resistance performance but they don't have to have labels or plugs. So ask the supplier or manufacturer to provide it.

Advice given earlier is based on relevant guidance. I am not aware of any guidance to support adding thin strips of timber to the inside face of the door frame for reducing the gap, as an alternative to reinstalling the door frame.

Sorry, can't help you on that one.

There is no guidance that thicker rebate stops mitigate the effect of excessive door to frame gaps. Where restricted cold smoke spread is a requirement, effective smoke seals will be necessary.

Contact R&T technical at https://www.ratman.co.uk/contact/

This is a question for Local Building Control. https://www.gov.uk/building-regulations-approval Myself, if I were replacing doors I would use that opportunity to fit fire rated ones.

Lipping depends on what fire performance certification exists for the door. I like lipping done correctly, but carrying out such work on site may void the door's third party certification.

The hold-open device must release the fire door to self-close completely when the fire/smoke alarm is activated. This should be checked weekly when the alarm is tested.

There is no quick and easy way to do this. Remove the door and loosen the door frame fixings so that the door frame hanging jamb can be moved-over and then re-install. You will need to check the gap between the surrounding wall and the doorframe is correct and make good the fire-stopping between the wall and door frame. Depending on the gap issue, you may have to completely remove the door assembly and re-install.

Contact the hinge manufacturer for advice.

I would advise that a floor survey be carried out to ensure it is suitably level for a concealed automatic threshold drop-seal to be fitted.

I would advise your employer to carry out a risk assessment for this issue. If it is felt that there exists a risk of a person being trapped inside then the lock should be changed to provide for keyless egress.

Whilst there is currently no legal requirement for fire door installers and maintainers to possess a dedicated qualification, competence is necessary. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires those that provide fire safety related services to be ‘Competent Persons’. Approved Document 7 of the Building Regulations covers workmanship and materials. Many clients such as housing associations, healthcare organisations and education providers now require that those that install or maintain fire doors have a qualification or certification as proof of competence to perform those works. Subsequent to the Hackitt Report there are industry led working groups looking at what competence should look like and you may find the recent report ‘Setting the Bar’ interesting at https://cic.org.uk/setting-the-bar-annexes.php

There is also Regulation 10 applicable to multi occupancy residential blocks above 11 metres in storey height https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-england-regulations-2022/fact-sheet-fire-doors-regulation-10

Assuming the doors are timber-based, BS 8214: 2016 Timber-based Fire Door Assemblies - Code of practice section 13 recognises that doors "do deteriorate" and says that "It is important, therefore, for inspection, maintenance and repair of any damage be undertaken on a regular basis if the fire resistance is to be maintained".

40mm / 50mm gaps are too large to be filled. Assuming the door assembly is timber, refer to section 9 of BS 8214: 2016. I would reduce the gap to 20mm max using tightly fitted solid timber lining screw fixed to the back of the door frame. The lining must be continuous, full width and of similar material to the existing door frame. Alternatively, you could install a new door frame.